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Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.
Exodus 15:20 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances.
  • KJV And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
  • NKJV Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
  • NASB Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing.
  • NLT Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine and led all the women as they played their tambourines and danced.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Miriam the prophetess led the women in celebration with tambourines and dancing.

Overview

Miriam, named a prophetess, leads the women in joyful, embodied worship responding to God's victory. The communal celebration shows that the whole congregation, men and women, share in praising their Redeemer. Joyful, corporate worship is the fitting response to God's saving acts.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 24

  • Ps 150:4Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flute.
  • 1 Sam 18:6As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and with tambourines and other instruments.
  • Ps 149:3Let them praise His name with dancing, and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.
  • Ps 68:25The singers lead the way, the musicians follow after, among the maidens playing tambourines.
  • Judg 11:34And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
  • Mic 6:4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam.
  • Ps 81:2Lift up a song, strike the tambourine, play the sweet-sounding harp and lyre.
  • Judg 4:4Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
  • Num 26:59and Amram’s wife was named Jochebed. She was also a daughter of Levi, born to Levi in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.
  • Exod 2:4And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
  • Ps 30:11You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
  • Ps 68:11The Lord gives the command; a great company of women proclaim it:
  • 2 Kgs 22:14So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.
  • Luke 2:36There was also a prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was well along in years. She had been married for seven years,
  • 1 Sam 10:5After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.
  • Num 20:1In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.
  • Judg 21:21and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
  • Acts 21:9He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
  • 2 Sam 6:14And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the LORD,
  • 1 Cor 11:5And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved.
  • 2 Sam 6:5David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.
  • 2 Sam 6:16As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.
  • Num 12:1Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.
  • 1 Cor 14:34Women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (9)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Exodus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Exodus 15:20YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ExodusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.

How Exodus 15:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.